Former I. Magnin ladies room looking good again

Many San Franciscans remember the elegant department store that once graced the corner of Stockton and Geary streets, I. Magnin & Co. Like the City of Paris, once across Stockton Street, Ransohoff’s a few blocks away, and many other long-gone stores, these beautifully designed and lushly appointed stores evoke memories of a by-gone era when women wore hats and gloves to go downtown. Magnin’s was a favorite of the city’s socialites and other ladies who lunch with a taste for designer and haute-couture clothing. Its quiet marble facade on Union Square represented a graceful shopping experience.

In 1988, R.H. Macy & Co. bought the exclusive I. Magnin chain of stores, including the flagship store, the white marble lady designed by architect Timothy Pflueger. That deal was just one of many that began in 1944, when Magnin’s merged with Bullocks Inc. Ultimately, after more mergers and a proxy fight, the local retailing icon became part of the conglomerate Federated Department Stores, after Federated bought Macy’s. Magnin’s, though, a high-end luxury retailer, did not last long in the Federated chain, which sadly closed the stores in 1994. Many in the retailing business suspected that Federated/Macy’s only wanted Magnin’s for its prime location facing Union Square and adjacent to Macy’s.

A major renovation was done in the late 1990s to create a modern glass facade and unify the disparate Macy’s buildings on the Geary Street side of its vast complex, including a major seismic upgrade. The interior of the once-gorgeous I. Magnin store  was completely gutted. Long gone are the glorious pink Tennessee marble floors, the bronze elevator doors, the glass hand-painted mural on the ground floor, the intimate salons with scalloped ceilings and marble, chrome and glass everywhere. Glass chandeliers in the style of Lalique and gorgeous display cases were all hand picked by Grover Magnin, who traveled to Paris with Pflueger to get ideas for the store. While I. Magnin Union Square was probably Pflueger’s piece de resistance of all his work for the Magnin chain, he died of a sudden heart attack in 1946, and was not alive to see the store’s grand opening in 1948, or how it became a beloved fixture in San Francisco.

But what is little known – except to savvy shoppers in Union Square  – is that one small vestige of the original I. Magnin store remains. On the sixth floor of Macy’s, just off the hallway near the elevators, is part of the original ladies restroom. Upon entering the bland powder room for putting on lipstick, unsuspecting patrons are sometimes surprised by the gorgeous interior in the next room. Black green marble covers the walls, contrasting with a gold-leaf ceiling. A glass chandelier hangs from an ornate bronze ceiling mount. Floor length antique mirror doors provide privacy in the stalls, and white-veined marble sinks sit nestled in bronze pedestals.

For a brief time, the bathroom seemed to be in need of constant repair. One of the pedestal sinks was covered with a sign that it was out of order and on one visit last year, at least three bathroom stalls were out of order.

But on a recent visit, the Timothy Pflueger Blog learned that Macy’s has found a sink, and repaired most of the restroom issues.

“Maintaining and improving the historical bathrooms has been an important ongoing project here at Macy’s Union Square,”  said Megan Prado, a spokeswoman for Macy’s, in a recent email. “We searched for several months and had distributors look for a historical sink to replace one of the three that cracked as it wasn’t able to be repaired.” Prado said Macy’s found one that was a great match. “We relocated the two existing functioning sinks and moved them to the exterior,  and installed the new one in the middle. This gave the area a balanced look.”  The stall door mirrors have also been replaced with new mirrors with an antique look. “We continue to do regular audits of the restroom to address issues as they arise in a timely manner,” she added.

At least one small slice of Pflueger’s original design remains.

For those of you interested in the history of I. Magnin, and other specialty and department stores founded by some of the city’s great entrepreneurs, I will be doing a talk for the San Francisco History Association on March 25. The talk is based on my research for a new walking tour I am working on for San Francisco City Guides. Hope to see some of you there!